Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Nice! The Hollywood Walk of Fame committee announced its 2014 honorees in a ceremony today featuring Jennifer Lopez, who received a star. The latest group of entertainers whose names will grace Hollywood Boulevard includes Giancarlo Esposito and Tavis Smiley for their achievements in television, as well as a posthumous honor for Tupac Shakur in recording.

Legendary songwriting/producing team Holland-Dozier-Holland were also honored in music. Of note, there were no black honorees in film.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Royal Pains alum Patrick Heusinger has been tapped for a recurring guest star role on the returning drama, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The actor will play Adam, a 30-something, physically fit handsome/roguish man who's cool, has a good sense of humor and lives life to its fullest.

Also, Revolution is bringing the romance in Season 2, signing Jessica Collins for a four-episode arc as mysterious new addition Cynthia. Revolution' showrunner Eric Kripke has this to say about the character: "Cynthia is a beautiful young woman of deep faith, whose winning humor and blazing intelligence capture the heart of one of 'Revolution's' leading characters." While that could mean anyone from Miles (presumably still grieving Nora and wrestling with his feelings for Rachel) to Neville (still married) to Monroe (single, but psycho), we're wondering if maybe it's Aaron's turn for a little romantic distraction? Unless he's destined to reunite with his wife?

Heusinger most recently co-starred on Fox's failed drama pilot Boomerang as the son of Felicity Huffman. His credits also include Gossip Girl, Black Swan and NBC's busted pilot Beautiful People. Collins was a regular on AMC's "Rubicon" and ABC's "The Nine," which both lasted just a single season. She also had a supporting role in the Oscar nominated hit drama "Zero Dark Thirty."

NBC announced their Comic-Con panels of this year, and Revolution is there!

The Season 1 finale of Revolution found our heroes at The Tower and the switch to turn the lights back on-but the mystery of the blackout is just the beginning. Fans will be treated to an exclusive video presentation, followed by a special Q&A with series stars and producers. From Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions, Kripke Enterprises, and Warner Bros. Television, the second season of Revolution premieres this fall in its new Wednesday 8/7c time period on NBC.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

NBC’s Revolution only ended its first season last Monday, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has wasted no time announcing the hit show’s Season 1 Blu-ray and DVD set. While we already know we’ll be getting a Blu-ray jam-packed with more than 90 minutes of bonus features, fans of the series or those waiting to catch up will still have a while to wait to purchase the series on Blu-ray and DVD. Revolution: The Complete First Season will be released on September 3.

Because NBC opted to put the program on hiatus for several months in order to air it after new episodes of The Voice, it ended up feeling like we got an extended season of the series filled with betrayals, fights, and several deaths. Revolution doesn’t cut back in terms of action, and it should be nice to revisit the episodes since some of them aired quite far apart—especially since we now know NBC’s drama will officially be returning to the schedule for a second season.

Additionally, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is promising over 90 minutes of bonus features with the set. Blu-ray and DVD sets will come with most of the same features, including the webisodes NBC produced to keep interest in the series strong during its hiatus. If you are looking for interviews with the cast and crew, the Blu-ray may be a better option, since footage from the Paley Fest panel will be available. You can pre-order the set over at Amazon or check out the extras, below.

Episode Review

by SpoilerTV

This week’s season finale of Revolution, “The Dark Tower,” was directed by Charles Beeson. I have to admit, I either missed it, or there was no screen credit for a writer for the episode, but it sure felt like an Eric Kripke penned finale (FYI? The story was by Kripke with Paul Grellong getting a co-writing credit for the teleplay). We begin with a classic rock montage from the season – just as every Supernatural (Kripke’s previous show) finale does. The overlay of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” helped to drive that theme home for the audience. The song was for a time a bit of an anthem on Supernatural. The song’s basic premise and melancholy tone suit Revolution, especially this episode. This episode tied up a lot of season one and opened a lot of doors going into season two.

I want to first comment on some truly powerful performances in this episode. Billy Burke delivered his best performance to date on the series. David Lyons and Giancarlo Esposito have been impressive all season, so it would be easy to simply take their performances for granted, except that’s impossible. Tracy Spiridakos and Daniella Alonso are likewise magnificent in the episode, delivering a season’s best for Spiridakos, and sadly, a series best for Alonso. Finally, Colm Feore also delivers a series best though he has little screen time, and Zac Orth once again makes Aaron the character you most want to bring home with you. It’s simply staggering to realize that I’ve named almost the entire cast here. And that’s not to negate the other performances, these simply deserved a special mention.

For me, this was an action-packed episode that still managed to hit some satisfying emotional climaxes. The theme of family was carried throughout the episode. Both Jason (JD Pardo) and Charlie (Spiridakos) find their parents wanting. Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) being driven by revenge for Danny even when her living daughter begs her to stop, shows how destructive revenge can be. I felt this nicely paralleled the similar storyline in Supernatural when John sacrifices his relationship with his living sons in order to devote his entire life to exacting revenge for his wife’s death. It’s also a great scene for Spiridakos, in which Charlie really does come into her own.